Just Another Hero

Maisie teleported to the top of the building, frowning. She had been trying to stop a runaway car from slamming into a bus filled with civilians, but she was was realizing, a bit too late, that she didn't know how. Her teleportation powers didn't do much for speeding cars or buses full of people, and though she had enhanced speed and strength, she wasn't sure if she could stop a car going fifty miles an hour. She couldn't be much use to anyone smushed against a windshield like an unlucky bug.

Luckily, she wasn't forced to make a snap decision as the famous Spider-Person—or whatever their name was—swung into view. They caught the car with their bare hands, leaving both the driver of the car and the people on the bus unharmed. Even more impressively, Spider-Bug was also completely unharmed, and they swung away from the scene.

Maisie was relieved that the citizens were safe, but she couldn't help but feel a little miffed by the experience. Even worse, Spider-Guy definitely saw her watching from afar as they flew away through the air with ease. Maisie shook her head to rid herself of the thought and teleported away from the rooftop.

Okay, fine. Maybe she and this "Spider-Man" could share New York.

Maisie appeared on the sidewalk next to her apartment building. As she glanced around for any prying eyes, a particular headline on a discarded newspaper caught her eye. The girl frowned, picking it up from the top of the nearby garbage can. A scoff escaped her lips as she saw "The Daily Bugle" across the top with the words, "Teleporting Mischief-Maker Vigilante Does It Again!" in big bold letters. The girl smirked at the word "Mischief." It wasn't the first time that J. Jonah Jameson used that particular word to describe her.

She chose to take it as a compliment.

Shaking her head, she threw the paper in the trash and teleported to her room.

******

Maisie came home from her tenth day of school at Midtown School of Science and Technology with a tired look on her face. Her classes were especially elementary today, and although she had MJ to talk with and pass the time, she was thankful to finally be free. As she unlocked the front door, she remembered a chocolate croissant waiting for her in the pantry leftover from breakfast, and she perked up. 

"Dad? You home?" Maisie called. She assumed he had only just gotten back if he were, knowing his work schedule.

"In the living room," her dad replied. His usual tone of dismissal was gone, replaced by something Maisie couldn't quite place.

The girl smiled to herself as she got her hands on the croissant and stepped into the living room, taking a huge bite out of her snack just to almost choke on it a moment later.

Sitting across from her father was Tony Stark. Also known as Iron Man, a superhero, who saves the world.

Maisie tried to catch her breath after her unsuccessful attempt at chewing, "Wh—hello?"

"Ms. McCall," Mr. Stark greeted, a smug smile on his face, "I thought it was about time we met."

Several scenarios were running through her brain. Why the hell was Tony Stark in her apartment? The only logical explanation for it revolved around the fact that every night she left her house in a makeshift superhero costume to fight crime. Her eyes flicked over to her father, oblivious to her nightly endeavors. She was determined to keep it that way.

"You've been getting my emails, haven't you?" Mr. Stark gave her a look saying, 'Go with it!'

Maisie's eyes remained wide, but a skeptical feeling arose in her, "Yes, sir."

"About the grant with the September Foundation," Mr. Stark continued, obviously having thought this cover story up. Fortunately for her, it seemed that he wasn't keen on alerting her father of what he was really doing there. "Well, since you applied, I'm here to tell you that you've been accepted. Yay!"

Maisie plastered on a bright smile, enjoying the look of pride on her father's face, "This is great news!"

Mr. Stark gave her a look like, "Don't oversell it, kid."

"So, this September Foundation grant," Maisie's father began, looking more interested in the details. His constant business-like expression never wavering, "is there financial compensation as a part of the award?"

"Yeah, it's pretty well-funded," Mr. Stark responded, never losing his easy smile. "Look who you're talking to."

Maisie snorted, and the two men looked at her in surprise.

"Can I have five minutes with the kid, just to talk about some NDAs and all that?" Mr. Stark asked, gesturing at Maisie.

Maisie's father looked smug, the look of pride at his daughter's achievements only a glimmer in his eye, "Congratulations, Margaret. We'll discuss this later."

Maisie stiffly nodded at her father before awkwardly gesturing for Mr. Stark to follow her to her room down the hall. The girl winced as she realized that it was still pretty messy from the move.

"Sorry, Mr. Stark, we just moved a couple weeks ago, and—" she threw a couple things into a box and pushed it under her bed. The man stepped through the door and closed it, and Maisie frowned, narrowing her eyes at him, "Alright, why are you really here?"

Mr. Stark chuckled, taking off his red-tinted sunglasses, "You're a lot quicker than the other kid. He started swearing that he'd never applied for the grant."

Maisie smirked to herself, putting the question of "the other kid" on hold and turning back to the superhero, "So...?"

Mr. Stark paused again, then pulled out his phone. A couple taps, and a holographic image of a YouTube video popped up. Maisie, covered in a purple athletic jacket, a black bandana, and leggings, jumped off of a building and teleported in midair, catching a suicidal man and teleporting back down to the ground. The girl's smirk faded.

"This is the second time I've done this today, so how about we skip to the part where you admit this is you, and I tell you why I'm here," Tony raised an eyebrow, looking for the girl to agree.

Maisie took a moment to think, but after staring into the calculating eyes of Tony Stark, she knew there would be nothing she could say to convince him otherwise.

"Alright, fine," she stared back, unwavering. "That's me."

"The powers, how'd you get them?" he asked, and Maisie figured it was more curiosity than anything else. She looked away from the older man, and took a seat on the edge of her desk.

"When I was eleven, a blue cube spazzed out and electrocuted me. I didn't learn until later that it was called the Tesseract, and it was the thing that let Loki and those aliens destroy New York," Maisie paused, frowning. "My mom worked on it... for SHIELD. She was an astrophysicist, but when Loki came through, he killed her. I only escaped because I was unconscious and Loki thought I was dead."

Mr. Stark's eyes widened, "You survived SHIELD caving in?"

Maisie shook her head, "You saw what I can do. I woke up just in time to vanish before the ceiling could hit me. I blinked, and I was safely outside. My dad and the police found me shivering underneath a wrecked car the next morning."

Maisie found herself unintentionally staring at the framed picture of her mom on her nightstand.

Mr. Stark paused before speaking, wanting to give the girl a moment, "So, you chose now to become a superhero? You want to be a hero, put bad guys away, that sort of thing?"

Maisie's eyebrows furrowed, and she answered almost immediately: "It's not about me."

"How?" Mr. Stark continued, prepared for her response.

"With everything that's happened... I could've saved so many people that day in New York," Maisie looked down at her lap, feeling her throat close up. "All those people out there—they might not have someone to save them when you Avengers are off doing bigger and better things. I can be someone for them to rely on when they don't even realize they need it. I mean, what was I supposed to do with superpowers? I can't just sit around while bad things are happening to people who don't deserve it. Not when I have the power to stop it."

Maisie looked up at Mr. Stark, and she was a little confused to see a small, knowing smile etched on his slightly wrinkled face, "You and the other kid will get along just fine."

"What other kid?" Maisie finally asked, confused.

"You ever been to Germany?" Mr. Stark asked, a knowing glint in his eye.

"Once, accidentally," Maisie blinked, remembering her days as a younger superhero. "Why?"

******

The next six hours consisted of rushed packing, digging for a passport (which she was told later she didn't even need), and lots of calming breathing exercises.

Before Mr. Stark left, Maisie's father asked if someone could drive her to the airport for the "internship retreat" in Germany.

"I'm very busy," Maisie's father had said. "I'm sure you understand, Mr. Stark."

Mr. Stark nodded with slightly narrowed eyes as he regarded the man. "That was the plan. Only cleared drivers can pass security to my private plane."

Maisie didn't say anything, she wasn't surprised that her father didn't want to take the time to drop her off anyway.

The apartment door closed, and there was only a moment of silence between the two McCalls before Maisie left as quickly as she could to get all her things together.

From what Mr. Stark told her, Captain America was going rogue. The Sokovia Accords, which had taken the headline of every news network over the past couple weeks, had created a rift between the Avengers, and Cap didn't want to sign. Then, after the bombing of Vienna in Austria, the situation had only escalated. Cap didn't want to let go of his old war buddy regardless of whatever crimes he committed and was siding with him.

At first, the idea of Captain America choosing to fight against his fellow teammates instead of alongside them shocked Maisie. But, the more she thought about it, the more she agreed with some of what he was doing. Why should the Avengers be contained and controlled by the government? The last time that happened, SHIELD turned out to be a bunch of Nazis, and a whole lot of people died. Yeah, she paid attention during history class. Surely, having the power in the hands of the people had to be the best course of action. The Avengers weren't supervillains; they'd saved the world more times than she could count, and now, they were the ones being regulated?

Of course, Maisie didn't say any of this to Mr. Stark.

It was obvious that the man strongly believed that the Accords were a way to ensure that the number of casualties decreased, but Maisie wasn't so sure the government could do much to help with that simply if they had control over what the Avengers did.

Maisie was skeptical of the entire situation, but she did know one thing: Captain America needed to stop defending the douchebag who blew up the UN meeting in Vienna. Assholes who blew people up deserved to pay for their crimes, and Bucky Barnes was no exception.

Another few hours passed, and a car was out front ready to take her to Mr. Stark's private jet. The drive was longer than she expected, but she didn't have much to complain about with the complimentary sparkling water and fine leather seats combined with the fact that she was going to Germany to help subdue Captain America alongside the other Avengers.

The only thing Maisie didn't quite understand was the "other kid" Mr. Stark kept referring to.

******

Maisie sat on the plane for exactly nineteen minutes before an over-excited teenage boy voice echoed through the front cabin. Her eyebrows furrowed. She recognized that particular Golden Retriever energy; but... it couldn't be?

A millisecond passed, and a smiling Peter Parker came into view.

Before Peter could see her, however, Maisie teleported behind the curtain separating the front and back of the plane. Her jaw dropped as she hid behind the curtain; Peter was the other kid? The other fake internship position was for him? What could he possibly do?

"Kid?" a man Maisie didn't know called, confused at the lack of her presence on the plane. "I swear there's supposed to be two of you."

She ran several different scenarios in her head; Peter finding out about her secret identity at this point was basically a given. Apparently, Mr. Stark didn't give any thought to outing her to the boy, so what was she nervous about? He was here for a similar if not the same reason. What could the nice nerdy kid from school possibly do with the knowledge of her secret identity?

A memory flashed before her eyes: a red sweatshirt and black goggles. She realized with a start that she knew exactly why Peter was there. That's why he was able to hear her talk across classrooms and catch her by the hand as she stumbled in the hallway, and it was why Tony Stark of all people came knocking on his door, too. He was enhanced, just like her. He was the Spider-Guy from the streets.

"Tony?" the man asked, and Maisie froze. He continued, "Yeah, the girl's not here." A beat. "What do you mean you had Antonio drop her off?"

In that moment, she made a decision. Maisie teleported back into the main cabin, right in front of Peter and the man on the phone. The two jumped in surprise, and Peter's first reaction was to throw a punch in the girl's direction, which she narrowly ducked to avoid. Peter's fist missed her head, and she sent him a raised eyebrow paired with crossed arms in response.

"Maisie?" Peter's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "What are you doing here?"

Maisie shrugged as though the situation weren't totally baffling to her, too, "Going to Germany. Thought it'd be better than flying coach, you know?"

"You two know each other?" the man asked, pointing between them. His phone was still pressed to his ear, and both kids could hear Mr. Stark's voice through it. "Tony wants to know how you know each other."

"We go to school together," Maisie replied. She was a little surprised Mr. Stark didn't already know that.

"Y-You can teleport?" Peter still hadn't gotten over his shock. It was obvious that she was going to be the calmer one of the two.

"I can read minds, too," she chirped.

Peter's eyes widened in horror, "What?"

"Relax, I'm kidding, but I do know a secret about you," Maisie eyed him for a reaction, finding his usual anxious expression amplified. "You're that red and blue Spider-Dude from the streets."

Peter's jaw clenched as he tried to find a way to convince her that he wasn't, but he remembered where he was standing and knew there would be no chance of her believing him.

"Yeah, I guess I am," he replied, stone-faced. Four months in, and too many people had already figured out his identity. He looked up at her again, defensive, "And it's Spider-Man."

"Happy, what are they saying? Are they friends yet?" Mr. Stark's voice rang through the driver's, Happy's, phone.

"Yeah, boss," Happy replied, sighing as he glanced between the two teens. "Best friends. We're coming to you now."

He hung up, mumbling about actually getting some sleep before more of driving kids around for his dumb boss.

Peter hadn't looked away from Maisie, instead, he was studying her closely, "You're that super-girl who saves people when I'm not there."

"Maybe you're the one saving people when I'm not there," Maisie corrected, giving the boy a smile to let him know that she wouldn't bite. "But, yeah. I may be enhanced, but I can't stop a speeding car from crashing into a bus. That's all you, Spidey."

Peter's mouth twitched into a smile, "Let's not start with things I can't do. I'm pretty sure teleportation wins every single time."

Maisie laughed, nodding, "Yeah, you're right."

She sat down in one of the many lounge seats the Stark Industries jet had, glancing out the window for a moment. They were about to take off, and if there were a pilot on board, they would've told the passengers to buckle up.

Maisie smirked as she watched Peter buckle the seatbelt as tight as it went, foot tapping nervously as he avoided looking out the window at all costs. As the plane took off into the air, Peter's hands gripped the armrests so hard Maisie thought they might break, and she knew Peter was very capable of doing that.

"What?" she joked. "Is it your first time on a private plane?"

"It's my first time on any plane," he replied, an anxious smile crossing his face.

"Well, don't worry," she shrugged in her seat. "If it goes down, I'll teleport us out before we crash."

Peter leaned forward, "How do your powers work anyway?"

Maisie's confident smile faltered, "I don't know."

He looked unconvinced.

"I mean, I came into contact with the Tesseract, but other than that, I have no idea," she sighed, wondering how many times she'd have to tell the story. "My mom worked for SHIELD, and she worked on the that dumb cube before New York happened."

Peter's eyes widened, "Whoa, that's awesome! But, didn't Loki—"

"Kill everyone who worked on the Tesseract and enslave everyone else with his staff of destiny?" Maisie deadpanned. She looked out the window, "Yeah, my mom died that day, too."

Peter's expression darkened. He had a similar experience around the time his powers kicked in.

"My uncle," he didn't look anywhere except his hands. "Just a couple months ago, he was mugged, and they left him shot in the middle of the road."

Maisie nodded, sympathy and bitter understanding in her voice, "I'm so sorry."

"I could've done something," Peter shook his head. "I had my powers at the time, but I was frozen. I hadn't understood what I could do then, but if I had just tried, I could've saved him."

"It's not your fault, Peter," Maisie frowned. "By that logic, it's my fault my mom died. It was my idea to go touch the stupid cube. I had my powers too. I could've teleported my mom and me out of there and left everyone else to deal with Loki."

Peter nodded, taking a breath, "It's not your fault either. I guess we both didn't know what we were doing."

The two were silent for a moment, and Maisie couldn't help but realize that that was the longest conversation she'd ever had with Peter.

"You know, it's a little hard to find anyone with any comprehension of what I'm going through," the corners of Peter's mouth twitched into an ironic smile. "Believe it or not."

Maisie smirked, "We should've started talking much sooner."

They laughed together, covering up their emotional outburst and focusing on the calm plane ride to what was sure to be chaos waiting for them.

******

When Peter and Maisie arrived at the Leipzig airport, they weren't really sure what to do. Mr. Stark gave them instructions to keep their distance until he called for them, but Maisie was more concerned with what to do once he called them besides the obvious strategy of going for Cap's legs. Peter quoted the vine earlier, and Maisie reluctantly agreed it was a good plan.

"Because his shield is the size of a dinner plate, and he is an idiot!" Peter referenced in a horrible German accent.

Maisie shook her head with a smile and got into position. Mr. Stark flew off toward the middle of the airport a short time ago, leaving the two behind a couple of large shipping boxes waiting for instructions. Peter took the time to speak to his little video diary that he insisted on calling a "vlog" and Maisie glanced down at her outfit for the umpteenth time.

The suit that Mr. Stark made was amazing; it fit her perfectly and she was happy to see that she did not have a complete face mask like her spider counterpart. Instead, she had one that covered her mouth and settled comfortably over her nose. Her eyes were left unguarded, and Maisie was thankful that she could use her enhanced sight without anything interfering like her makeshift mask from her vigilante, sweatshirt-wearing days did. When Maisie asked why Peter preferred the full mask, he told her that it was also supposed to help regulate sensory input, something she didn't have to deal with.

"Love the spandex by the way, Spidey," Maisie commented, not entirely joking.

The suit actually did look really good, but it was hard to compliment a guy wearing head-to-toe mock-spandex. She had some of the flexible material, but she was thankful that it wasn't so form-fitting like Peter's getup. The more she admired her suit, the more she recognized that it resembled Black Widow's. She was trying hard to keep her excitement to herself. The more she discovered about hers and Peter's suits, the more she wondered how long Mr. Stark spent making them, and when did he start?

"Whatever," he mumbled, but she could tell he was grinning with pride under the mask. "Your hair clashes with the purple on your suit, anyway."

Maisie snorted, "All the insults, and you go with 'the red streaks in your hair clash with your suit'? That's pathetic."

Peter put his phone down, "Well, it's harder to insult you."

"Thanks, Pete," Maisie chuckled.

"Dude! We said no real people names!" Peter exclaimed, pointing to his ear at the comms system that Mr. Stark set them up with.

Maisie rolled her eyes, "Sorry, what would you like to be called—"

"Captain America!" Peter's voice rose an octave as he interrupted her.

"I think that one's taken—"

"No, Maisie, look," he pointed at something behind her, and the girl turned her head. "Captain freakin' America!"

Maisie's eyes widened, and her heart nearly stopped at the sight of the super soldier. Her eyes then moved to her real role model. Black Widow, known as Natasha Romanoff, stood a few steps away from Mr. Stark, and she felt a weight lift off her shoulders. Maisie was afraid that the woman would be on the opposing side, and she was relieved she wouldn't have to fight against her. Even if she were on the other side, Maisie wasn't sure she could fight her. Another man that she recognized from the recent news as the Black Panther appeared close by Mr. Stark.

After a moment of staring, she shook her head, ridding herself of whatever nerves kept popping up. Then, she frowned at Peter.

"I thought we said no real names," Maisie crossed her arms. "I have a secret identity too, you know."

"Well, what are you called?" Peter crossed his arms, waiting for a reply.

Maisie's mouth opened and closed, realizing she was stuck. New York, mainly Queens, had come up with a couple names for her during her time as a vigilante superhero: Blitz, Stryker, Stargate--but of them all, Mischief was her favorite. She thought it fit her personality quite well. That name also happened to pop up the most in the constant negative articles of her in the Daily Bugle. She figured it'd be almost like a 'Screw You!' to J. Jonah Jameson if she took on that moniker.

She opened her mouth to reply to Peter, but Mr. Stark's voice echoed through the airport.

"Little Red!" Mr. Stark, Iron Man, called. "Underoos!"

The two teen superheroes stared at one another, hearts beating a million miles an hour. Then, Spider-Man flipped in, following his orders.

Maisie, or Mischief, teleported in front of Captain America, ripping his shield from his hands. She instantly disappeared again, landing on top of a truck close by. Spider-Man flipped over the top of the man, webbing his hands together in makeshift handcuffs, and landed right beside the girl.

"Nice job, kids," Mr. Stark complimented, nodding at the two. Maisie smiled in spite of herself, proud of the remark. She glanced to the side of Mr. Stark where a suited-up Colonel James Rhodes stood, mask up and staring curiously at the two teens.

Peter, awkwardly, began speaking, "Thanks, Mr. Stark. Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better, it's just the new suit."

Mr. Stark gave him a look that Maisie read to say, 'Stop talking!' but Peter misinterpreted it.

"No, wh—it's nothing, Mr. Stark, it's perfect! Thank you," he rambled.

Maisie elbowed him, "Dude, shut up!"

Ignoring her, he continued, "Captain—big fan!" he pointed to himself. "Spider-Man."

Captain America looked at the two kids, amused. Maisie's eyes narrowed, wondering why he didn't look very irritated at being captured so easily. The girl frowned; it had been almost too easy.

Mr. Stark sighed, "Yeah, look we'll talk about it later, just—"

"Hey, everyone," Peter finished, giving a quick wave.

"You've been busy," Cap spoke up, nodding at the two.

"And you've been a complete idiot," Mr. Stark's tone shifted on a dime. Maisie's eyes widened at the blatant insult, and she felt Peter tense up beside her. "Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place. I'm trying to keep... I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

The shield in Maisie's hands suddenly felt a lot heavier.

"You did that when you signed," Cap said. There was a finality to his voice that shocked both teens; were the Avengers really over?

"Alright, we're done," Mr. Stark shook his head. "You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us, now, because it's us! Or a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction about being impolite."

The sound of radio static echoed through Maisie's ears, but she couldn't focus on where it was coming from. She reached up to her comms, but she realized too late that it wasn't hers making the noise. It was Cap's.

The man held his hands above his head, and an arrow cut through the webbing, freeing his hands.

Peter, having heard the communication, started, "Hey, guys, something's—"

Before he could finish, someone appeared out of seemingly nowhere, kicking Maisie in the stomach and yanking the shield from her grasp. The girl flew backward, gasping for breath, and Peter joined her a second later, holding his head.

"What the hell was that?" she heard Colonel Rhodes', War Machine's, voice over comms ask.

"I believe this is yours, Captain America!" her attacker said, handing over the shield to its owner. Maisie growled under her breath—randomly appearing out of nowhere was her power.

"Oh, great," Mr. Stark's faceplate went down, and Iron Man was ready to fight. "Alright, there's two on the parking deck, one of them's Maximoff, I'm gonna grab her. Rhodey, you wanna take Cap?"

"Got it," Rhodey responded, following suit. "There's two in the terminal, Wilson and Barnes."

Maisie looked over at Peter, unsure of what to do. Peter reached over, pulling the girl to her feet, and he spoke into the comms, "Hey, Mr. Stark? What should we do?"

"What we discussed," Mr. Stark replied. "Keep your distance, take their stuff, web 'em up!"

"Copy that," Maisie replied, her voice sounding much more confident than she felt. "Let's go."

With that, she latched onto Peter's hand and teleported them to the correct terminal. The sudden location change shocked Peter, but he quickly adjusted when he noticed that Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson were sprinting right at the two of them. He only had a moment to react, catching the Winter Soldier's metal arm inches from his face.

He couldn't help himself, "Whoa! You have a metal arm? That is awesome, dude!"

Suddenly, Sam Wilson, Falcon, was in the air, tearing Spider-Man away from Barnes. Mischief heard his voice get quieter as the man flew them farther down the terminal.

A fist then flew at Maisie's face, but she teleported before it could reach her. She was simply not stronger than the Winter Soldier, that she knew, but she was angry. The girl appeared on his other side, kicking Barnes in the back of the knee, then disappearing before he could reach her again. She appeared on his other side, punching the back of his head and disappearing again. She felt better as she fell back into the groove of fighting.

Barnes was started to get irritated, turning in every direction and trying to predict when she'd show up next. It was only a matter of time before he got lucky, and his metal arm reached out into empty space, slamming into Mischief's gut.

"Jeez, what kind of steroids do you take for breakfast?" Maisie mumbled, not able to resist the snarkiness pouring from her mouth.

The girl let out a grunt as she dodged a second blow, able to get a hit off to his jaw before teleporting to his other side again. Unfortunately, he anticipated her location again, and grabbed her arm, kicking at her abdomen and sending her flying across the terminal. She teleported before she could hit the ground and landed hard on her feet, sprinting toward the man at full speed.

He got into his stance, but she disappeared before she could reach him, appearing on top of him and landing with her legs around his head. She twisted her body, using her thigh to put him into a choke hold. Maisie blamed herself for the next part; she should've known she was too light to be able to bring the damn Winter Soldier and his heavy metal arm to the ground.

Barnes reached up behind him and threw her to the ground, staring at her for only a moment before bringing his foot down. Despite her pain, she couldn't help the smirk as she disappeared from view again, this time on a high beam in the ceiling of the terminal.

"You're just a little too slow, old man," she called, baiting him. Maisie tried to make it look like she wasn't tired, but holy shit, the criminals of Queens had nothing on a HYDRA commissioned super-assassin.

Barnes ripped a piece of the airport from its previous position (it looked like a directory?) and threw it at the girl. She almost rolled her eyes, ready to dodge it with ease, but her friend had returned.

Spider-Man appeared and used his webs to change its direction to throw it back, "Hey, buddy, I think you lost this!"

Barnes narrowly avoided it, diving behind another section of the airport just in time. Maisie let out a laugh at Peter's commentary.

"Little Red?" Mr. Stark's voice called over comms, shocking her out of her skin. Was that supposed to be her? The man grunted, "Could use your help over here, witchy-voodoo and all that."

"Be right there," Maisie replied, ignoring her new bruises.

"I got this!" Peter assured her, running away from a Falcon in pursuit.

Maisie glanced down at Barnes running away from the girl and toward the exit of the terminal, "Don't forget about the—ah, nevermind, I'll get him back here."

Mischief teleported down to Barnes, punched him in the back of the head for good measure, and teleported back to where Falcon and Spider-Man were currently dueling, dropping him back into the middle of the fight he was running from. The Winter Soldier looked confused for a moment, then angry as his eyes landed on her. She found a small moment of amusement seeing his confusion mixed with annoyance, then teleported back to where she started, looking for Mr. Stark and ready for the next fight.

Mischief appeared as War Machine tossed a broken electrical baton away, muttering under his breath. The man jumped when he saw her, looking ready to fight for a moment before remembering who his teammates were.

A short distance away, Captain America and the man who appeared out of nowhere stood waiting. Maisie almost made a comment that would've surely ended with an exasperated look from every adult in the airport, but before she could speak, the two both threw something small into the air. Her heart stopped as she imagined a bomb flying toward them.

Suddenly, the small thing grew in size, and a semi-truck was heading in their exact direction. Mischief saw that Iron Man, War Machine, and Black Widow were in direct line of fire, and she reacted instinctively. Black Widow had no multimillion dollar suit to protect her, nor the ability to fly, so she made the decision to save her.

Lurching forward, Mischief grabbed the woman's arm and teleported her away a couple hundred feet, a good distance away from the truck's massive explosion. The girl's eyes widened in shock; was Captain America actually trying to kill them?

"Alright, now I'm pissed," Rhodey spat.

"What the fu—" Maisie breathed.

"Thanks, kid," Natasha spoke to her, gratitude filling her voice. Maisie's eyes widened ever so slightly at the praise. Then Iron Man and War Machine landed on the ground next to them. The woman's face quickly resumed its stony expression, "Is this part of the plan?"

"Well, my plan was to go easy on them," Mr. Stark replied, anger lacing his voice. "Wanna change it up?"

"Yes," Maisie replied, an edge to her voice. The three adults stared at her. She frowned, unapologetic, "Sorry, I'm not usually one for holding back."

Natasha let the corner of her mouth turn upward into a half-smile, "Good, neither are we."

The four heard movement from the other side of the terminal, and Captain America sprinted into view, gesturing for his friends to join him. The Winter Soldier, Falcon, Hawkeye, and Scarlet Witch fell into line behind him, focused on the quinjet waiting for them in Hangar Five.

War Machine and Iron Man took off toward them, intending to cut them off before they could get there. Beating them to it, a purple android came into view, Vision, using the Mind Stone to draw a line in the pavement, stopping them in their tracks.

"Wanna give me a lift, little one?" Natasha asked, gesturing at the growing crowd of superheroes.

The girl nodded, determination in her eyes. She teleported the two to stand alongside War Machine and Iron Man a distance away from their rogue teammates. Vision touched down alongside Black Widow, and after a moment, Mischief breathed a sigh of relief when Spider-Man joined the group, opting to stand close to her.

"Captain Rogers," Vision began, ever the diplomat, "I know you believe what you're doing is right, but for the collective good, you must surrender now."

Cap didn't reply, staring back at the line of superheroes. When no one moved, Sam Wilson spoke up; only Peter and Maisie could hear what he said.

"What do we do, Cap?" he asked.

A moment passed, and the Captain's jaw clenched, "We fight."

And Captain America started walking toward them, his team following behind him.

"This is gonna end well," Natasha mumbled under her breath, taking slow steps forward as if to meet them halfway.

"No kidding," Maisie frowned, stiff in her movements.

"Uhh," Peter started to jog, and both groups seemed to gain speed, "they're not stopping!"

"Neither are we," Mr. Stark replied through gritted teeth, and he flew even faster.

At his words, both teams broke into a sprint toward one another. Iron Man flew down as he reached Cap, aiming a punch downward at him. The man blocked it, holding his shield in front of his face just in time. Hawkeye's arrows were flying everywhere, aimed mostly at Vision, but he knew they'd only piss him off. War Machine flew off following Falcon, taking the fight to the air. Black Panther took off toward Barnes immediately, and Mischief assumed he was avenging his father's death. Feeling the rage build inside her again, she wanted to join that fight, but a blast of psionic energy pushed her flying in the opposite direction she was running. On instinct, she teleported before she could hit the ground, landing upright beside Black Widow's fight with the stupid randomly appearing man from earlier.

The man got Black Widow on the ground, and although the woman looked far from helpless, Maisie shrugged and kicked the gimmick-stealer in the back of the knee, forcing him to release her.

"Who even are you, anyway?" the girl asked, dodging the man's blind punch toward her with ease.

"Jeez, how many times do I have to say it?" the man didn't look angry, to Maisie's surprise, only exasperated. "I'm Ant-Man!"

Mischief couldn't help but giggle, but it caught in her throat as he disappeared in front of her eyes. Before she could react, Ant-Man flipped the girl onto her back, and appeared once more. Then, he seemed to remember Black Widow was still there. She took over, sending punch after punch toward him, and the man disappeared once more. The woman's arm was pulled behind her back, but somehow, the hold was released once she used her Widow Bites on her gauntlet.

"He can shrink," Natasha explained, standing up again.

Maisie's eyes widened, "Oh! So he's not like me, then?"

"I don't think anyone's like you," Natasha replied, unable to bring a smile to her face as she looked around the airport. A beat passed, and she sighed, "Back to work."

Mischief nodded, teleporting to the other side of the airport where Black Panther and the Winter Soldier were dueling. She didn't think she could ever win one-on-one against the super soldier, but if she kept popping around, wreaking havoc wherever necessary, she could help her teammates gain the upper hand. She appeared, sending a punch to Barnes' knee, causing him to stumble, and Black Panther took his shot. Barnes blocked it, but he glared at the empty space that Maisie had appeared in, mumbling curse words under his breath.

The girl teleported again, sweeping the feet out from Captain America as he tried to attack an already occupied Iron Man. Having the time to react, Iron Man flew up and landed back down on the other side of the man, ready to fight. She disappeared again, sending a punch to Hawkeye's gut. Again, twisting in midair to kick Falcon's wing, causing him to lose control for a moment. Again, another punch landed on Barnes. Again, Ant-Man didn't expect the blow to his head.

The girl had to pause, taking a beat to breathe. It was in that moment that she ran out of luck.

Red energy flew toward her, picking her up and throwing her into the nearest plane. Mischief couldn't react fast enough, and her shoulder slammed into the side of the plane before she fell the remaining few feet to the concrete. She looked up to see the Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff, hands still raised with magic swirling around the tips of her fingers.

"Shit," Maisie mumbled, pushing herself to her feet. Something sharp pierced her side, and she looked down to see a large piece of shrapnel lodged a couple inches deep just above her hip.

Scarlet Witch's small smirk of victory faltered, noticing her injury. Maisie even thought she looked concerned for a moment, and she took her hesitation as a means of escape, teleporting into the nearest shelter. That just happened to be Hangar Five where the quinjet was located. She prayed that none of Team Cap would make it through because she wasn't sure how she'd be able to stop them.

"Shit, shit, fuck!" she cursed, clenching her fists in an attempt to ignore the pain. She had super-healing, and for that reason she knew she'd live, but it still felt like she was being stabbed. Fun fact about getting stabbed: it always hurt. "God, do I take it out? What do I do with this thing?"

Talking to herself was a strategy she used for solving most pressure-filled situations. Her peers in math class usually tried to sit farther away from her for that very reason.

"Usually, you're supposed to leave it in," a calm voice spoke up from behind her.

Maisie turned her head and saw Natasha standing guard over the quinjet, "Y-Yeah, I would, but it won't start to heal until I take it out."

Natasha looked like she understood, "You heal fast?"

"Yes, ma'am," Maisie winced, looking back down at the shrapnel in her side.

Natasha's mouth twitched at the girl's words, and she leaned down, pulling the metal from the girl's stomach. Maisie stared up in shock, panting as she tried to ignore the gaping hole where it used to be.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Natasha asked, examining the wound.

Maisie shrugged, "A couple hours? Maybe more before it feels completely normal again."

Static crackled over comms, and Maisie heard Rhodey say, "Okay, tiny dude is big now, he's big now."

The two looked at one another in confusion, then their eyes widened. The Ant-Man guy became Giant-Man?

"Holy shit!" Maisie heard Peter exclaim in shock.

"That's a distraction," Natasha concluded, eyes calculating. Maisie was lost, but the woman continued. "They're using him as a distraction to get to the jet."

Maisie glanced at the entrance to the hangar, "Well, good thing we're here to stop them, right?"

Natasha frowned, not looking at her. Maisie tried to pull herself to her feet, preparing herself for a fight against none other than Captain America. The sound of something collapsing filled her ears, and Maisie watched as one of the watch towers outside the hangar was falling right in front of the entrance. The relief Maisie felt was short-lived as the swirling red magic stopped the tower from collapsing just long enough for two figures to make it through the entrance.

Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers stopped in their tracks upon seeing Natasha and Maisie waiting for them. The four regarded one another for a moment. Maisie shifted her hand's position on her bleeding side, wondering how she was supposed to fight them at the same time.

Natasha's stare was calm, regretful, "You're not going to stop."

"You know I can't," Steve replied, a sorrowful look on his face. It was obvious that this fight was tearing them apart.

"I'm gonna regret this," Natasha murmured, holding up her electrical gauntlet and firing toward them.

But, the shot didn't hit Bucky or Steve. Instead, T'Challa, King of Wakanda, went down, electricity coursing through him. Maisie stared in shock, turning to stare at the woman.

"Go," Natasha instructed, frowning. Steve and Bucky didn't need to be told twice, and they sprinted toward the quinjet.

Natasha sent another electrical shock at T'Challa, keeping him at bay. Maisie stared in the direction of the retreating Captain America, knowing there was nothing she could do. T'Challa escaped Natasha's blows with enough time to catch the wheel of the plane before falling back onto the ground again.

"I told you I'd help you find him, not catch him," Natasha shrugged, having no other explanation. "There's a difference."

T'Challa didn't spare the woman a second glance, running out of the hangar and toward the retreating quinjet as though he had a chance of taking it.

"Why did you do that?" Maisie stared after the quinjet, disbelief written on her face. "That guy killed innocent people in that bombing—"

"Steve said it wasn't him," Natasha's face remained impassive.

"And you believed him?" Maisie scoffed, eyes wide. "You let a criminal get away w-with..."

Natasha remained silent, pursing her lips.

The girl walked forward, unable to stand straight due to her side. Natasha stepped forward to help, but Maisie shook her head.

Natasha narrowed her eyes, "We went about this wrong. Maybe we need to be put in check, but any way that destroys our team isn't the way to do it."

"I agree! God, if only you'd been there when the Accords were signed, you could've done something about it," Maisie snapped, her sarcasm not going undetected.

"I did what I thought was right, just like I did now," Natasha argued.

"And now the terrorist escapes with Captain America like a couple of war criminals," Maisie shook her head. "I just wanted—I wanted to..."

"You wanted to make a difference like every one of us," Natasha nodded. "But we can't do that if we kill each other over a stupid debate about politics."

Maisie glanced up at her, recognizing the truth to her words. She stayed silent, still fuming about the failure she endured.

Natasha's eyes narrowed, "How old are you?"

Maisie frowned, "Why do you want to know?"

"I thought you and the other one were the same age, but I'm getting the sense you might be older," Natasha crossed her arms. "I didn't realize that you had an opinion on what's happening here. The other kid seems to just be here to kick Cap's ass and meet the Avengers."

Maisie felt argumentative, "He's one of the smartest people I've ever met." 

Although she'd only met Peter at school less than a month ago, after spending the day with him... Maisie didn't feel as though she was stretching the truth for sake of the argument.

"So is Tony," Natasha responded, "and he still managed to miss how to handle this in a way that didn't end up with the Avengers torn apart."

Maisie couldn't help the snort, "Then Peter's smarter than Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers, both. He'd never let this happen to the Avengers."

"Maisie!" Peter exclaimed in interruption. The two turned to see Spider-Man, limping slightly as he entered the airplane hangar. His mask was still on, but the girl could tell his eyes were wide in exasperation. "We agreed no real names!"

Maisie's smirk faltered for a moment as she noticed Natasha's smug reaction. Then, Maisie frowned, turning to face Peter, "You just called me 'Maisie,' you idiot!"

Peter's voice dropped, "Oops."

"Smarter than Stark, huh?" Natasha couldn't help the little dig, and she turned to leave the teens to themselves. She brushed shoulders with Maisie on the way out, "I'll see you again, Maisie. Don't worry, little ones. Your secrets are safe with me."

Once the woman left, Maisie couldn't help but turn and send a punch to Peter's arm. The girl winced as her stomach strained under the sudden movement.

"What's wrong?" he asked, limping over to her. His eyes widened at the gash in her side, "Did you get impaled?"

"No!" Maisie blushed, inexplicably embarrassed by the fact she'd been injured. She also hoped that he didn't catch the part where Natasha referenced her saying that Maisie thought Peter was smarter than Tony Stark. She held a hand over her side and nodded at Peter, changing the subject, "What's wrong with you?"

"The huge guy sorta backhanded me in midair while I was swinging and I landed on my head," Peter winced at the memory. "Then Mr. Stark told me I was done. They flew off after the quinjet a little bit ago."

"We're alone?" Maisie frowned. "What do we do now?"

******

It only took another fifteen minutes until the two heard the sirens.

Eyes widening, they stood up from their resting spot inside the hangar and went on high alert. Maisie grabbed Peter's arm, ready to teleport them out of sight if necessary. They were expecting police cars, and were surprised to find an ambulance leading the charge back to the airport.

"What the hell happened?" Maisie breathed.

Peter didn't reply, watching as the ambulance drove through the airport and in the direction of the missing quinjet.

"Maisie—" Peter began, but she interrupted.

"On it," and she teleported them to the scene, standing far enough back so they didn't grab any unwanted attention.

The two's eyes were drawn to Mr. Stark, de-helmeted in the Iron Man suit, and they saw Rhodey unconscious in front of him. Maisie brought a hand to her mouth, unable to understand. The Avengers were a team, they were friends. How could this have happened to Rhodey if that were true? Mr. Stark leaned over his best friend's unresponsive body, furiously trying to hold it together and failing. The only relief he felt was when he heard the ambulance arrive. Maisie didn't even notice Sam Wilson's unconscious body a few feet away until Mr. Stark told the paramedics that he wasn't the one to worry about.

"I-I don't understand," Peter's voice broke.

Maisie couldn't stand to watch as the paramedics loaded Rhodey onto a gurney. Mr. Stark entered the ambulance behind him, and they were gone. Sam Wilson laid still in the grass, and there was no sound.

Maisie reached over to grab Peter's hand, and she teleported them back to their hotel.

******

The two changed out of their suits, lounging around their adjoined hotel rooms as they waited for any sort of news from Mr. Stark or Happy. They weren't expecting anything anytime soon, mostly because of Rhodey's serious injuries, and the fact that Steve Rogers and his bomber friend escaped.

Maisie frowned as she changed out of her suit and into pajamas, trying to be gentle with her movements despite her frustration. As she took off her jacket, she felt something shift in her pocket. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and she reached inside to find a small slip of paper. On it, written in small, perfect print, was a phone number. Her confusion only increased, but then she remembered Natasha's deliberate shove of her shoulder as she left the airplane hangar, and her eyes widened. She had Natasha Romanoff's phone number in her hand.

Maisie didn't know how that made her feel. As much as she hated to admit it, Maisie could understand Natasha's decision to allow them to escape on the quinjet, but that didn't make letting Mr. Stark down any easier. Still, she tucked the phone number into her backpack and zipped it shut; she'd deal with it later.

An hour later, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Maisie bit her lip hard, annoyance seeping into her features.

"You're doing it again," Peter mumbled, staring at the TV screen.

Maisie winced, moving her lip away from her teeth and tasting blood, "Shit."

"Mr. Stark's gonna figure it out," Peter told her, not oblivious to her stress. "You'll see, it'll be fine."

"Gotta love that giddy optimism of yours, Parker," Maisie muttered, rubbing her face with her hands in an attempt to rid herself of exhaustion. "We should've stopped them. We should've—"

"We did all we could, Maisie," Peter replied, the same tired tone to his voice. "We're only kids."

"Yeah, kids who can stop a bus with their bare hands and teleport to Tokyo and back," Maisie shot back.

Peter looked over, "You could teleport to Tokyo right now?"

Maisie shrugged, "If I had a picture, I could."

"Hmm," Peter mused.

The two turned back to the TV, watching some rerun of FRIENDS with German subtitles. She could get them home if they wanted, and Maisie knew that's what Peter was considering, but after everything that happened, they both wanted to wait until Mr. Stark got back.

Peter looked at the blonde girl out of the corner of his eye, jerking back with wide eyes to look at the TV screen when she turned her head.

Maisie couldn't help the smirk, "What, Peter?"

"Well, I just thought... well I was thinking, I have been thinking—" Peter cut himself off with a sigh. "When we get back, I was wondering if you'd maybe want to quit the whole solo hero thing?"

Maisie's eyes narrowed, "You want me to quit? Why? So you can have New York all to yourself? Unbelievable—"

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Peter shook his head, waving his hands around. "That's not what I meant, I meant... I was thinking we could do it together. Like... a team?"

Maisie's jaw snapped shut, and she considered the idea. Staying up on school nights, hanging out with the one person who might understand what her life was like, stopping criminals from breaking the law in the name of justice. Maisie's lips twitched into a grin, and she watched the relief fill Peter's eyes.

"Alright, Spider-Man," Maisie nodded, holding her hand out. "Partners."

"Partners, um..." Peter seemed to draw a blank, and Maisie shook her head with a smile.

"Mischief. Final answer," she supplied. "And for the record, we'll be a better team than the Avengers."

"Mischief," Peter repeated, a smirk on his face. "Somehow I think that applies to more than just your superpowers."

Maisie laughed, "Just you wait, Spidey."